The Opeyemi Family
Made up of 3 successive High Exarchs from the same family, Refilwe from 2992 - 3021, Limbikani from 3021 - 3030, and Chinweike from 3030 - 3056, The Opeyemi Family is mainly known for the drama that surrounded their lives, which has been popularised throughout the Empire in various adaptations of plays, movies etc. Inside The High Church of Messiah-as-Emperox, the Opeyemi Family is more known for their significant contributions to the High Church theology and organisation. History Though all capable High Exarchs with long-lasting legacies on High Church theology and organisation, the three members of the Opeyemi Family which consecutively held the office during the majority of the Masked One’s reign are today mostly famous from the wealth of dramas recreating the tragic events of their personal lives. The result of a marriage between a poor father of good standing and wealthy mother from a lesser family, Refilwe Opeyemi would defy his mother’s will and choose to join the High Church at an early age instead of pursuing a political career. Aided by the introspection and flourishing of arts characterising the Masked One’s reign, due in no small part to his extraordinary skills as a singer and songwriter Refilwe rapidly ascended the ranks of the High Church preaching the Virtue of Hope. During this time he met his future spouse, Limbikani Opeyemi, whose keen eye for details and organisational skills contrasted greatly to his lofty idealism and romanticism. Though their upbringings could not have been more different, Limbikani having been raised an orphan within the High Church, they nevertheless fell madly in love. Using their complementary skills they together skyrocketed up the High Church hierarchy until Refilwe was declared High Exarch in 2992, keeping the highly pregnant Limbikani as his personal aide, overseeing day-to-day administrative matters. Refilwe and Limbikani, both highly busy attending to their duties, would soon after its birth leave their child Chinweike to be raised under the care and tutelage of Opeyemi’s mother, who after becoming a widow and seeing her son rise to such a lofty position had recanted her condemnation of his choice of career. As she tried and fail to influence Refilwe to abuse his position to her advantage, his mother would however once again turn scornful and set about implementing a devious plan. Unbeknownst to their parents, Chinweike was raised to become their grandmother’s tool for vengeance, groomed to eventually usurp Refilwe as High Exarch. Refilwe and Limbikani, busy overseeing a golden age of religious-oriented arts for the High Church by respectively inspiring and funding a multitude of different creative movements, remained blissfully unaware of the details of the estranged Chinweike’s upbringing beyond their meteoric rise within the High Church. Already in 3021, Chinweike rose to the position of Exarch for the High Order, at the record-breaking tender age of 29, and their mentor set about making her plan come to fruition. Trusting the dutiful nature of Limbikani, using a convoluted chain of events and cryptic messages she made Limbikani believe that Refilwe was imminently about to assassinate the Emperox and seize the throne and that only Limbikani herself had the power to stop him. Left with no choice, Limbikani murdered her husband to save the Empire. The plan to usurp Refilwe backfired, as the Council of Exarchs was impressed by Limbikani’s decisive display of Propriety. Knowing how she had already skillfully handled many of the duties of the High Exarch as her husband’s personal aide, in an unprecedented move the Council turned to Limbikani and convinced her to take up the position of High Exarch, despite not already being a member of the Council of Exarchs herself. Determined to achieve the influence over the High Church she rightly deserved, Chinweike’s grandmother and trusted mentor revealed to them, after their position on the Council had been cemented, that their father had not actually harboured any plans to assassinate the Emperox and that their mother out of jealousy had concocted the story to unrightfully become High Exarch, while neglecting to reveal her own involvement. Because this could not be adequately proved for the Council to immediately turn away from their capable and beloved High Exarch, it was left to Chinweike to exploit their great diplomacy and intrigue skills to turn the Council against their mother. So commenced 3 years of a bitter power struggle with conspiracies, speeches, assassinations, and even occasional open armed conflict between Chinweike and their mother over the position of High Exarch. During the time of the struggle for power with their mother, Chinweike would uncover a most horrifying truth while researching theirs and their mother’s shared background to find any buried secrets to exploit. They discovered that before their grandfather married their grandmother, he had been married to another woman. This marriage had however been declared illegitimate, supposedly because the wife’s infidelity had produced a bastard daughter, conveniently allowing his grandfather to marry his grandmother and raising her social standing. After some further discreet investigations, it became apparent to Chinweike that the infidelity story simply didn’t add up and that the girl, which had been left in the High Church’s care, was their father’s half-sister. This half-sister would eventually take the name Limbikani, marry her half-brother, and give birth to Chinweike, the heinous product of an incestuous relationship! Chinweike naturally kept their incestuous origin hidden, and though some doubt of their mentor’s motives would linger in the back of their mind, they continued their power struggle with Limbikani until, in 3030, they emerged victoriously, usurped their mother as High Exarch and had her imprisoned. Desiring catharsis enough to disregard their mentor’s advice, on a fateful evening after Limbikani’s imprisonment Chinweike entered her cell to scold her for her actions. Chinweike revealed the incestuous nature of her marriage and the innocence of Refilwe, after which Limbikani collapsed in despair and sobbingly explained how she had only acted the best way she could given the information she had at the time. Pattern matching with what other information their mentor had provided them, horrifying realisation finally set in for Chinweike as their mentor’s elaborate schemes finally came crashing down. Leaving their mother in her cell to confront their once beloved mentor, Chinweike would slay the architect of their misfortune in a fit of rage and attempt to free their mother, but not until she had already committed suicide out of shame and sorrow. Putting this tragic tale behind them, Chinweike would focus on their duties as High Exarch, duties they fulfilled with the passion of their father and the efficiency of their mother. Only through Chinweike’s posthumous confession would the tragic incestuous story of the Opeyemi family resurface and forever overshadow the rest of the details of their reign in popular culture. Less dramatic historians often point out that this fact is in and of itself another tragedy, as there is much in present-day High Church theology and administration that can trace its root back to the Opeyemi family. Refilwe produced an overflowing abundance of various hymns, poems, and theological treatises that are now widely preached and circulated, the most famous of which is his Anthem of Hopeful Reinvigoration. Limbikani, on the other hand, improved High Church financial management to a level not seen since the days of Empress Eridanus Juliana. Chinweike would then finally meld the works of their parents in a great synthesis whose rewards we still reap today. Category:History Category:NPCs Category:The High Church of Messiah-as-Emperox Members Category:The High Church of Messiah-as-Emperox